ABU DHABI: Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi hoped his beleaguered side is focused enough to counter a spirited South African team in the back-to-back Twenty20 matches starting here on Tuesday.
Pakistan's recent tour to England was rocked by spot-fixing allegations which prompted a Scotland Yard investigation and the suspension of three of their players by the International Cricket Council.
Test captain Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Aamer were charged for violating various code of conduct during the Lord's Test against England in August, a controversy which Afridi said is a thing of the past.
“My players are professional and have put all the controversy behind them,” Afridi said at the launching ceremony of the series in which Pakistan will also play five one-day internationals and two Tests.
The series is Pakistan's home series shifted to United Arab Emirates over security fears.
Afridi said the team has ample talent to counter the South Africans.
“We know we are without two of our best bowlers in Aamer and Asif,” said Afridi of the two suspended bowlers. “But we still have ample talent to counter South Africa who are a very good side in the shorter form of the game.”
South African captain Johan Botha agreed Pakistan will miss the talent of Asif and Aamer.
“You always miss quality players and surely Pakistan will miss the two (suspended) bowlers, but we too have injury problems in the team and when such things happen other players step in,” said Botha.
Allrounder Jacques Kallis and fast bowlers Morne Morkel and Dale Styen were still recovering from various injuries and may not be able to play the first Twenty 20.
Botha hoped at least two of the three players will be available for the second Twenty 20, also to be played here on Wednesday.
“Playing Pakistan is always a great challenege and they knocked us out in two major Twenty20 matches,” said Botha of Pakistan's wins over South Africa in the second and third World Twenty20 in 2009 and 2010 respectively.
The two sides play the first two one-day in Abu Dhabi before the last three limited over matches in Dubai.
Dubai will also stage the first Test, while the second will be played in Abu Dhabi.
Squads:Pakistan (from): Shahid Afridi (capt), Imran Farhat, Mohammad Hafeez, Shahzaib Hasan, Misbah-ul-Haq, Younis Khan, Umar Akmal, Asad Shafiq, Fawad Alam, Abdul Razzaq, Umar Gul, Saeed Ajmal, Wahab Riaz, Abdur Rehman, Shoaib Akhtar, Tanvir Ahmed, Zulqarnain Haider
South Africa (from): Johan Botha (capt), Loots Bosman, AB de Villiers, Jean-Paul Duminy, Colin Ingram, Jacques Kallis, David Miller, Graeme Smith, Albie Morkel, Morne Morkel, Wayne Parnell, Robin Peterson, Dale Steyn, Rusty Theron, Lonwabo Tsotsobe.

KARACHI: Shahid Afridi warned on Tuesday that it would be difficult for his players to switch to Test mode after a heavy dose of limited-overs matches during the last few months.But the Pakistan captain still hoped that his team will go all out to give mighty Australia a run for their money in a two-Test ‘home’ series in England next month.“It will certainly be difficult to switch to Test cricket after playing so many Twenty20 and One-day Internationals in the last few months,” Afridi told ‘The News’ in an exclusive interview from Colombo. “But it’s a job we have to do. I’m sure that my boys are motivated enough and will give their best in the Test series against Australia,” he stressed.On their last tour of Australia, Pakistan lost all the tour matches — three Tests, five One-day Internationals and a Twenty20 game during what was a catastrophic tour. Later, they fell to Australia in a thrilling World Twenty20 semifinal from a seemingly-winning position in St Lucia last month.Afridi, who sees the series against Australia as a huge challenge for himself both as the captain and his team’s most experienced player, made it clear that his players will have to rise to the occasion and give their best in England.“Nobody can deny that a Test series against Australia is the toughest challenge for any team in international cricket,” he said. “They are still the best but that doesn’t mean we don’t have a chance against them. I’ve been telling my boys again and again that if we play to our potential we can beat any team in any format.”Afridi, 30, said that what he wants the most from his boys is attacking cricket. “We have to be aggressive otherwise there is no hope for us against a team like Australia.”The skipper is also urging his teammates to stop spilling the chances that come their way.“We have to avail the opportunities that come our way,” he said. “If you look at the recent past, you’ll see that we’ve played good cricket but still failed to win crunch games. That’s because we are spilling too many catches and throwing away our wickets unnecessarily.”Afridi said that he and team coaches have told the players in clear terms that they will have to stop missing so many chances.“We are placing all those things in front of the players. We are telling them that because of their silly mistakes, we have lost matches from winning positions.”He recalled that in the third Test against Australia in Hobart last January, fast bowler Mohammad Aamer dropped a sitter and allowed Australia captain Ricky Ponting to score a match-winning double century.“When you give such a life to a batsman like Ponting then you have to pay for it,” said Afridi. “What we have to make sure is that we stop dropping catches and perform like a truly professional unit on the field.”The captain and coaches are mostly focusing on Kamran Akmal, the experienced wicketkeeper who has floored too many catches in recent times.“We have told him (Akmal) that in the last eight or nine months he has dropped a lot of catches and has let down the entire team. We have told him that he will have to put in much more effort behind the stumps.”Pakistan fell out of the title race in the Asia Cup with back-to-back losses against defending champions Sri Lanka and old rivals India before crushing minnows Bangladesh by 139 runs in their last league match of the tournament in Dambulla on Monday night.The Greenshirts left Dambulla for Colombo after the match and will train there for the next couple of days before leaving for London on June 26.“We have a few training and practice sessions here before leaving for England,” said Afridi. “It’s a very long tour of England and I want my players to be perfeckt ready for it.”Pakistan will begin the tour with a match against the MCC at Lord’s on June 27. They will also play three warm-up games before turning up for two Twenty20 Internationals against Australia on June 5 and 6 ahead of the two Tests. Later they will play a full Test and one-day series against England. It will include four Tests, five One-day Internationals and two Twenty20 games.